SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN KENYA AND THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM)

This document is an executive summary of a one-day consultative workshop held on August 8, 2008, in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Africa Human Security Initiative-Institute for Security Studies, the workshop aimed to use the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to assess security governance in Kenya, specifically addressing the 2007 post-election violence and the role of militia groups.

• The workshop aimed to utilize the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to evaluate the quality of security governance experienced by Kenyan citizens, with specific objectives to revisit the APRM process, prescribe policy reforms for security, and review the role of State security agents and militia groups during the post-2007 general election violence.
• Participants recommended that the revised APRM questionnaire be more incisive, provide more guidance on the causes of conflict, combine human and state security discussions into one section, and prioritize evaluation over description.
• The workshop suggested that the APRM be integrated into national planning systems and oversight mechanisms to move beyond paper-based policies toward rigorous assessment of whether laws and policies actually work.
• To increase effectiveness, the workshop proposed that the APRM strengthen connections with citizens, the political class (including parliament and political parties), and the international community, and that explicit sanctions for non-compliance replace 'name-and-shame' tactics.
• Regarding specific security threats, the workshop recommended that the Plan of Action (PoA) be structured to address security challenges directly with specific mechanisms and timeframes, and that the 'hidden faces' of militia groups be examined.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2008). SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN KENYA AND THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM). https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/APRMWSHOPREPAUG08.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN KENYA AND THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM). 2008. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/APRMWSHOPREPAUG08.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN KENYA AND THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM) |date=8 August 2008 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/APRMWSHOPREPAUG08.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2008security, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN KENYA AND THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW MECHANISM (APRM)}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2008}, month = aug, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/APRMWSHOPREPAUG08.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }